Monday, April 23, 2012

Jack Gantos: fashion mentor

Just got done with the Los Angeles Times Book Festival, which for me is basically a 48 hour social anxiety attack, un-medicated (thank you, thank you) but I got through it and anyway, probably everyone else is as freaked out as I am, writers are like that.

Saw fellow Portlander Cheryl Strayed who is having a huge success with her new memoir WILD and she has been on the road for like a month, so imagine what it must be like for her. (Probably better, actually, as you must inevitably get used to these things).

Also got to meet Jack Gantos (above), who is one of my fave kids writers and also, more importantly, my fashion mentor. I told him, "I didn't know how to dress as a middle aged, male, YA writer, then I saw a picture of you and I was like, oh, okay, I should just do that."

But I was actually at that moment wearing a boring preppie J Crew shirt, but he said, "Well, you've got a nice New England thing going ..."